RECENT
DEVELOPMENTS:TO
RUSSIA WITH LOVE, 2002
- A Victorious Journey
to Russia for Jesus
II Chronicles 20
- The singers and praisers went out to the front lines and led the way in the
battle.
Left Vancouver International Airport at 4:20 pm. Arrived in Moscow at 6 pm (5 am Vancouver time - 11 hours difference). On our way to the hotel we stopped at IKEA parking lot and were blessed by the Moscow church orchestra playing 3 songs, including Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art, with the instruments that Daystar left for them 3 years ago. What an encouragement to see and hear the quality of their playing in only 3 years. Checked into the Russia Hotel, built in 1962 with 2,000 rooms, (across the street from Red Square). Bed at midnight (we've been up for over 30 hours).
Up early, exhausted before we even started. Pastor Alex and his wife Helena fed the whole group breakfast at the church. We ministered in both the morning and evening services in the Emmanuel Church in Moscow. We were so welcomed by the believers and it was a wonderful time of reunion for many of the Daystar members. The music pastor and choir led us in awesome worship and although the choruses were sung in Russian we were able to enter in and sing with them as many of the choruses were familiar. In the afternoon we were able to practise with their choir and they joined us in the evening service singing two of our Russian songs.
Up at 8 am, beautiful day with a nice breeze. A FREE day for sightseeing in Moscow. We toured the Kremlin, the Armoury, and the group sang "Alleluia" acapella in a beautiful 17th century church. We saw what was probably the "largest ever built" bell, cannon and royal carriage, none of which were ever used due to their mammoth sizes… hey, we have a couple of fast ferries to add to their collection! Later we had a bus tour of the city. The population is estimated between 12 - 14 million, they haven't had a census since 1974. After dinner on our walk back to the hotel we stopped just outside of Red Square and prayed for the City of Moscow.
Left at 10am by bus for Vladimir City, arrived at 2 pm. Witnessed our first fatal accident, the traffic here is often horrific. Met Pastor Slava and his wife, Oksana. The church has about 40 believers and they have recently purchased property. Our concert was held in a rented theatre and 260 people were there. As Daystar began to sing the presence of the Lord was so very evident and the people were incredibly responsive. Pastor Alex gave the gospel message and over 200 (80%) accepted the Lord! Pastor Alex shared on the bus later that "a major victory was won in this city". Slava Boga (Praise God)!
Our day started with a visit to the newly purchased church property in Vladimir City. Pastor Slava shared with us how the Lord led them to place a bid on property they could not afford and then miraculously provided the finances through a believer in the Lower Mainland. The building on the property is in need of much restoration. Out in the yard we joined hands and prayed for the work in Vladimir City and for a new home for the pastor, as they are living in the building and their children have to stay with their grandparents in the Ukraine.
On our way to Ivanavo, we stopped at the Emmanuel Bible School. There are 37 students, all young people… God is raising up an army for Russia. We sang, prayed and gave gifts of school supplies and hygienic products to the students. We were treated to a wonderful lunch prepared by one of the ladies from Emmanuel church.
Next stop, an orphanage, where we left our hearts. When we entered the yard the children had chalked all over the sidewalks, art of welcome and love, e.g., Russia + Canada = Friendship. There they stood on the doorstep waving and gladly ushered us inside. We had a memorable time of singing and sharing gifts. The orphanage has operated for 8 years and they have seen over 2,000 children, aged 3 - 17. Difficult to leave… we will never be the same!
Arrived in Ivanavo, an old industrial
city, very run down, Lenin was from this city. We had no hot water in our hotel
and only 10 min to get ready. Met up with Pastor Serge and his wife, Ena. We held
an outdoor evening concert in a huge park. About 270 attended including local
media, there was much coming and goings throughout the evening. We were singing
for about 20 minutes, it was a tough crowd, when from a distance we saw a sea
of people in yellow t-shirts, it was the bible school students, "a mighty
army of God"! They worked the crowd while we sang. As Pastor Alex shared,
we watched faces being transformed, we wept as strongholds of bondage were brought
down and prisoners held capture were set free. 71 Russians accepted the Lord,
and many seeds were planted. A busy, but wonderful day… SLAVA BOGA!
Our hotel has no hot water, so after a cold shower, our first visit was at an orphanage for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, again a remarkable experience. There were 35 children in the summer program and when they start up again in September there will be 55 children. Once the children are 8 years old they go to another orphanage. A little boy blessed us by singing a Russian song for us. Again, we sang and gave gifts, what a treat to see their smiles and share hugs. The staff invited us to have tea and cake at their little tables and chairs… so special. The staff allowed us to pray for them and then we asked them if they had any specific needs. They replied that they had many needs but the most urgent was that they had no hot water. They needed a boiler; the cost was only $100 US. Well, we wanted to go out and purchase one right then. How the Lord prepared us for this request… we had one night without hot water and we felt deprived! The group collected and gave the money to Pastor Serge. This will be a wonderful way for the local church to connect with this orphanage.
Back to the Bible School for lunch and quick visit with the students. Took a group photo and shared prayers and hugs.
Now we're off to Alexandrov… 3 hour bus ride. Peter had researched the best washrooms and they were at the train station… we rated them a "4"! The new church was still under construction so we held the concert outside in the dirt yard. People sat on wooden pews and when the yard was full they stood outside the fence. As we were setting up it started to rain… quickly get the tarps or whatever you can find to cover the equipment. We prayed and as we did our sound check, the rain ceased. Oh but it got cold… some were numb, but the crowd stayed with us and Pastor Alex spoke and many hands were raised. When the concert was over it immediately started to rain! Another miracle, God is Good … All the Time. We broke the Daystar record and packed up in 8 minutes. Back to the hotel in Moscow at 1:30 am.
Up at 4 am and on the bus by 5 am. Some didn't go to sleep. Caught the 8:10 flight to Sochi and arrived at 10:40. Sochi is the Hawaii of Russia, a total change from Moscow, humid, palm trees, wisteria, hibiscus, lush vegetation and sanatoriums (spas). Checked into the Pearl Hotel, and went exploring… oh by the way it's 34 degrees Celsius here. Sochi is the longest city in Europe, 145 km of beachfront on the Black Sea. The water was wonderfully warm and buoyant. It was a wonderful time of just hanging out with members of the group and getting to know each other better. Late in the evening there was a monsoon, locals may have called it a downpour, but it reminded us of our worst Vancouver torrential rainstorm.
Free morning and afternoon, cloudy with sunny periods & hot!… oh there's a few puddles left from the night before. Our concert this evening is in our hotel. Met Pastor Nikolai and his wife Irina. Although the auditorium was very hot, there were 160 people in attendance. We had a wonderful concert and when Pastor Alex gave the invitation, 52 people accepted Christ, with many more giving their names and addresses (25 were from the Moscow area and the rest were from all over Russia, and Europe).
Sunny and 40 degrees… Wow was it hot! We need more Pepsi Light! Our morning concert was again held in the auditorium in our hotel. We were able to have air conditioning for most of the concert. There were 60 people and again over 30 accepted Christ. The Russian's have a wonderful custom of giving flowers after concerts; we have been very blessed. Our evening concert was held in an outdoor concert bowl. Although many people came and went throughout the concert we think we reached well over 450. Also, on both sides of the bowl were huge apartment buildings and we could see many people out on their balconies. The crowd was so receptive and the presence of the Lord was very evident. Again, Pastor Alex gave a bold and powerful salvation message and 156 accepted Christ. Many more completed forms with their names and addresses. 71 were from Sochi and the rest were mostly from Moscow and parts of Russia.
Another hot day - 37 degrees. Sickness has attacked many in the group. This is a travelling day. Our flight back to Moscow left at 12:10. Arrived at 2:15. Spent the afternoon at the Moscow airport. Left at 7:10 for St. Petersburg arrived at 8:45pm. It is 28 degrees and very beautiful, this city is lovely. After a late dinner we checked into our hotel, the bed was a welcome site.
St. Petersburg is the city of our calling. We have purchased equipment and taken on the support of the pastors in this great city. Our devotion time this morning was on Elijah - God used one man to change a nation. We have come here to bless this nation. Wherever we go we want God to make us a blessing. We prayed "Lord, remove the strongholds of the enemy. Touch our bodies - You have control over the wind and waves"!
Free day for sightseeing
in St. Petersburg. Had a bus tour of the city, there is so much history here.
St. Petersburg will celebrate 300 years in 2003 (Peter the Great founded it in
1703). On average there are 65 sunny days a year and we have a beautiful sunny
day. Every summer there is much reconstruction. It's been said that the city has
two seasons, Winter and Reconstruction. We visited the Hermitage; the largest
museum in the world… all I can say is WOW! After a wonderful day we went
back to the hotel and had 15 minutes to get ready, then off by bus to the concert
venue, an old theatre. We had to be finished and packed up by 9:00 as they were
showing a movie after our concert. Pastor
Mikhail and his wife Olga moved
here 4 weeks ago and at a recent crusade 20 people agreed to join with them and
the church was planted in St. Petersburg. Tonight there were 52 people in attendance.
When Pastor Alex gave the invitation 15 accepted the Lord. It was a huge victory
for this city. We went well past 9 pm and we weren't disrupted. We packed up everything
and stored it downstairs because our concert is here again tomorrow night. By
the way, no one showed up to see the movie so it was cancelled. Have I mentioned
that it's very hot!
Continued our city bus tour and headed north to "Peterhoff" the summer palace of the Czar, which is now a museum. Was a long wait but well worth it. This was a highlight! The evening concert was held in the same theatre as last night. There were 63 people and the concert was awesome. Pastor Mikhail spoke very boldly on the good Samaritan and when the invitation was given 18 people quickly came up to the front. After the concert Pastor said it was so easy… he gave the invitation and they came! The Pastor was so encouraged! Most of our sound equipment, a keyboard and some musical instruments will be returning to this church planting.
Some had to catch the early flight back to Moscow, so they were up at 4 am, the rest left a few hours later. Arrived back in Moscow and after lunch had a couple of hours to unpack and get ready. Drove by bus to Pushkino, 1 ½ hours for the evening concert. Many in the group are still sick… "Let the weak say I am strong"! Once again, we sang in an old theatre. There were 130 people and they were so receptive. When Alex gave the invitation over 100 accepted salvation, over 80%. One man had been to one of our earlier concerts in Moscow and came back because he had known the orthodox songs but never knew you could sing such beautiful praise to God. He sincerely said that if we stayed in Moscow and sang, people would keep coming and all of Russia would be saved. What an awesome night for the Kingdom!
It was another beautiful day in Moscow. A group of us went to the Moscow market. We rode the Metro, and walked and walked. What an experience and we got some great souvenirs. Back on the bus by 3pm and now we're off to Red Army City. It took us almost 2 ½ hours because of the traffic. The church here has 40 believers and because the city's leaders are communists the church has had many battles to fight. The building was a beautiful old theatre but very rundown. We had a wonderful time of group prayer and singing before the concert. We prayed for the safe arrival of Doug, Bob and Pastor Alex (they had done a live radio interview and the traffic was still horrendous, apparently Alex did some creative driving to get to the concert on time). The turnout was great, 245 - many children and young men. Pastor Alex spoke and a sea of hands were raised when the invitation was given…the Lord is using us and souls are being won for the Kingdom. We received a lot of flowers tonight and a tasty apple flan baked by one of the ladies in the church - it was our desert at McDonalds (yes, Moscow has 6 of them and I think we've ate at almost all of them! - hey, who forgot to tell Doug that the Apple Flan lady invited us all to her house for piroski's? Oh well, Mc's is hot, fast and cheap!) Again, we had a farewell group-waving goodbye to us and again, we've left a piece of us behind.
Free morning… left the hotel at 3pm. Went to Solnechogorsk City. This city is still heavily influenced by ex-KGB; there is no room for Christianity. Only the Orthodox Church has been able to hold meetings in a public building so it is a miracle that we've been given a permit. The Lord is good and He inhabits the praises of His people. There is no church here - just a handful of believers that meet. A believer from the Moscow church, Uriy comes here and meets with them. Our prayer for tonight is that many more will be saved so they can start up a church. There was an obvious stronghold as some people left during the concert, but overall over 200 heard our songs about Jesus and Praise God 37 people received Christ and many more gave their names. Although many of us are sick, we are just the vessels and the Lord can do so much with so little. Uriy was so excited when he came onto the bus he could hardly contain himself. Pastor Alex shared that there has been such darkness over this city and tonight the light has come. Slava Boga!
Our last day in Russia. On the bus at 7:45 and back to Emmanuel church in Moscow. There were over 600 people in the service, what an encouragement. It was truly an international service with guests from Finland, Poland and Canada - there was a lot of interpreting going on. Their choir and band led in a time of wonderful worship. Then the orchestra played a few special numbers with the instruments that Daystar left for them 3 years ago, they were such a blessing to us. There was a special time of acknowledgement for the 35 believers that were baptized in water, yesterday. As Daystar began to minister "Oh for a thousand tongues to sing, Oh for a thousand hands to raise" a word was given empowering the people of the church to be worshippers and to rise up as a nation under God for Russia. The congregation rose to their feet and over a thousand hands were raised in honour to the King! What a wonderful time of sharing we had with the church of Moscow! When Pastor Alex gave the invitation, 49 people came forward for salvation and re-dedication. One of them was a man that had been at our concert the night before in Solnechnogorsk City.
After the service we went to the church office and were treated to a wonderful lunch provided by Pastor Alex , Helena and some of the ladies in the church. We had a special time of visiting and sharing with them and the folks from Finland. Our evening concert was held in Zelenograd. The building was a huge theatre, and we were on the 2nd floor, hey, some of that equipment is heavy! There were lots of pictures of war heroes, politicians and dignitaries. The auditorium was ½ full, about 200 people. Although we were tired we had a lot of energy for our last concert in Russia. Pastor Alex spoke and many accepted Christ and many others gave their names. Pastor Alex said it was enough to plant a church here. We had to pack everything up for shipping either back to St. Petersburg or Canada. Was another late night - 1am.
Wake-up call at 3am - did we sleep? Left Moscow at 7 am. Had a 5 hour
layover in Frankfurt, how many duty-free shops did someone say there were? Arrived
in Vancouver at 3:30 pm PST. Some of us have been up for a long time - jet lag
anyone?
Summary provided by Janice Pelzer - Daystar Soprano
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